Hello! I have been trying to find more plants to grow indoors, specifically vegetables, herbs and flowers.
The trick is that I am trying to find plants that stay under (or can be pruned to stay under) 12", or even better, 10".

Trying to Google for short plants just turns up information about plants that work with short days, or short seasons, or etc.
I've tried the search here, but putting in 10" for the height also shows plants that grow up to 10 feet tall, or that start at 10", and so forth.

Any ideas or suggestions for how to find more short plants? I've also looked at some generic charts, but they don't work well when they say tomatoes grow from 2'-3' tall while there are varieties like the Orange Hat Tomato that stays under 6" tall

What will you do for adequate sunlight? Vegetables and other flowering plants are going to need a good amount of direct sunlight in order for them to do what you want.

Most small varieties of tomato's, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers and such are going to need at least 2' in height.
There may be a few varieties of chili peppers that stay small enough.

Your other major problem will be that if you keep them artificially short by cutting or trimming, they won't mature enough to produce fruit.

BigBill said:What will you do for adequate sunlight? Vegetables and other flowering plants are going to need a good amount of direct sunlight in order for them to do what you want.

Most small varieties of tomato's, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers and such are going to need at least 2' in height.
There may be a few varieties of chili peppers that stay small enough.

Your other major problem will be that if you keep them artificially short by cutting or trimming, they won't mature enough to produce fruit.

Sunlight isn't an issue since I am using artificial lights. So far I've grown mustard, lettuce, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, swiss chard, bok choy, radishes, turnips, basil, dill, chives, parsley, ground cherries, lavender, poppies, zinnia, and sage within that height limit.

I am mainly looking for new plants, as well as different cultivars of plants I've already grown, so I was wondering if there was any easy way to find short plants :D

Sorry, not that I am aware of.

I fear you are in the extreme minority. Most people want normal sized vegetables and things. I just feel there there is a small demand for compact things.

I normally agree with Bill, but there IS a trend for compact plants that grow well in containers. I'm the chair for my local Master Gardeners Plant sale, and every year we have requests for dwarf/compact plants for containers, mostly from Millennium generation folks. Growing in pots doesn't require the same level of care that growing in ground does, so there's the supposed reason for the interest. What specifically are the plants you're looking for? There are many new dwarf tomatoes that top out at 2" and there are micro varieties listed at 12". Also available are small dill varieties, and Bill is right about hot peppers. Look at the ones with the name Aji in them. They are much smaller than other varieties.I grew lemon drop, and it didn't exceed 1.5 ' Tell me what you are looking for, and I can provide you with websites that carry some of these small plants.
'

Hi Lynda,

" There are many new dwarf tomatoes that top out at 2" "

I think you meant to say 2'.

There are several short varieties of zinnias. As I recall, some start blooming when only 3 inches tall and top out at about 12 inches tall. I prefer tall zinnias myself. There are plant growth regulators you can apply to ornamentals to control their height. I don't think they are approved for edibles such as vegetables.

ZM

Yes, Zen Man, I did mean to say that! Sometimes my fingers get away from me when typing. I didn't think about zinnias! There are some really short marigolds, too. Just waiting for the original poster to get back with a list of what plants he wants.

Cilantro, spinach, purslane, wax begonias..

Sorry for the delay in response! I am definitely interested in peppers (haven't found any short enough yet) and tomatoes (the only one I've found is the Orange Hat, which tops out at 6 inches). I'm also very interested in any type of fruit, if any, that stays that short - including uncommon berries assuming they're edible. I'm open to growing any type of fruit, vegetable or herb - I just want to learn how to grow as many different plants as I can and try out new foods that I otherwise wouldn't have the chance to.

On a related note, here's a picture of the Orange Hats I grew a couple months ago - it was my first time growing tomatoes so the leaves suffered a bit, but overall they grew very well and were delicious.


Any websites or references would be appreciated, thanks everyone :D

There's a few really short varieties of blueberries.

For dwarf tomatoes, check out totally tomatoes, and tomato fest seed companies. SeedsnSuch has some dwarf varieties of various veggies. Mints are good, they like to run, specially peppermint. As Sally said, spinach is great, and a lot of different lettuces would work, plus you can begin to harvest at 40 days . I would stay away from squash, even small varieties sprawl all over the place. Two specific tomatoes that come to mind are Micro Tom and Tumbling Tom, which have similar growth patterns to your Orange Hat. That Orange hat is a very nice plant, BTW!